Articles tagged “furloughs”

These layoffs at Expedia Group aren't particularly surprising, and were in the offing when travel demand plateaued in many countries starting in July and August. You can expect that Expedia will not be the only company forced into taking another whack at employee payrolls.

Despite the deep job cuts, the proprietary Skift Health Score calculates that Booking Holdings has far greater long-term strength than rivals Expedia Group and Trip.com Group. If you follow Booking.com's logic, the future of travel will be substantially smaller than its past.

Oyo's decision to part ways permanently with furloughed U.S. employees is tied to its view that the lodging company's full global recovery wouldn't occur until the second half of 2021. It's a nice gesture to give them stock options, although the jury is out on whether they'll be worth much in the long run.

If the dining and travel industries are looking for a bright spot during these dark days, then returning employees are a morsel to hang onto.

The job cuts at Kayak and OpenTable represent the first reported layoffs and furloughs at parent company Booking Holdings growing out of the coronavirus crisis other than for 48 contractors at Booking.com whose agreements weren't renewed. Few travel companies will emerge unscathed so it wouldn't be surprising if more cuts were coming at other Booking brands.

Barry Diller followed a familiar pattern and appointed someone he's known for years and feels comfortable working with as CEO. Peter Kern will have no trouble working with Apollo and Silver Lake, and with making deep cuts because he is a private equity guy at heart.

Government relief or not, if a substantial coronavirus recovery doesn't take shape by June, it's hard to believe that Booking Holdings won't execute substantial layoffs like everyone else. Perhaps the crisis, too, will spur new discussions about enormous pay gaps between CEOs and their workers.

Redeploying furloughed employees for work outside of their traditional expertise may not open new revenue streams for travel businesses during the coronavirus crisis, but such initiatives can lead to new learnings for the company and staff alike. It’s a better option than having idle workers.